Udall Foundation-Agency DEIA Strategic Plan_Final.pdf

1 | P a g e Udall Foundation Agency DEIA Strategic Plan 2022

Agency Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Strategic Plan 2022

Agency Name:

Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation (Udall Foundation)

Include Information About Components within the Agency Not Covered by this Agency DEIA Strategic Plan, as applicable: As all components should be included within Agency DEIA Strategic Plans, please describe why components are not covered and where their strategic plans will be uploaded.

N/A.

DEIA Implementation Team:

Alicia Harris, Director of Education Programs; Myles Sharp, Chief Financial Officer; Marc Rosen, Deputy Executive Director/General Counsel; Monique Mullenaux, Senior Program Associate; Ben Zukowski, Senior Program Associate

Chief Diversity Officer: Identify the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) of the agency, as described by recent OPM guidance. If the agency does not have a CDO, describe the steps the agency is taking to establish this role.

Identify Chief Diversity Officer

If not currently established, what steps have been or will be taken to fill the role.

Alicia Harris will be assuming this role effective July 1, 2022, along with her duties as Director of Education Programs.

https://chcoc.gov/content/agency-opportunities-establish-chief-diversity-officer-or-diversity-and-inclusion-officer

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An overview of the collaboration between Agency DEIA Teams and Component DEIA Teams, including cross-functional processes used to develop this plan:

The DEIA Team includes members of the agency’s Living Our Values (LOV) workgroup. The LOV workgroup identifies opportunities for new and enhanced agency operations and initiatives that promote the Udall Foundation’s core values of civility, integrity, consensus, public service, and nonpartisanship including in support of DEIA principles. The LOV workgroup is providing input into and review of this process.

State of the Agency: Provide the agency’s mission statement and the agency’s DEIA vision statement. Include in this section the agency’s 3-5 most successful initiatives or programs, and 3-5 biggest challenges to advancing DEIA throughout the entire agency. Please use other reports or write-ups as relevant to complete.

The Udall Foundation’s mission is to promote public service through research, education, and programs that:

• foster leadership, education, collaboration, and conflict resolution in the areas of environment, public lands, Native Nations, and natural resources to encourage the continued use and appreciation of our Nation’s rich resources;

• support the development of self-governance to strengthen Native Nations; and

• assist Federal agencies and others to resolve environmental conflicts.

The concepts of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility underlie and are at the heart of the Udall Foundation’s mission and programmatic work. As a small agency, the Udall Foundation is challenged to robustly address opportunities and requirements for DEIA due to its small number of personnel and limited annual appropriation. However, the agency has taken several concrete steps to advance DEIA considerations in its programs and operations.

These include:

(1) Establishing an internal DEIA Team that is chaired by the Deputy Executive Director/General Counsel and includes representatives from all program areas. The Director of Education Programs serves on the DEIA Team and led the agency’s 2021 response to Executive Order 13985. Other members of the DEIA Team include the agency’s Chief Financial Officer and two early-career employees who facilitate the LOV workgroup.

(2) Establishing the LOV workgroup which identifies implementable operational and programmatic activities in support of the agency's core values, including DEIA principles. The LOV workgroup fosters a shared understanding of the Udall Foundation’s working definitions for DEIA and advances a goal of eliminating barriers that may prevent the full participation of some groups in the Udall Foundation’s mission.

(3) Enhancing the agency’s commitment to DEIA in its newly released 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, which includes DEIA-focused goals and an objective to, “[F]oster a collegial organizational culture that demonstrates a commitment internally and externally to EEO and DEI principles. This strategic objective is designed to provide

3 | P a g e staff with training on EEO and DEI principles and best practices as well as training on the Udall Foundation’s core values to help further incorporate all of these into the agency’s work culture and programs.”

(4) Committing $10,000 from the agency’s FY 2022 administrative budget to support pilot activities of the LOV workgroup. The LOV workgroup, in consultation with agency leadership (Foundation Leadership Team), are assessing how best to undertake a more thorough assessment of the Udall Foundation’s current DEIA status and create a blueprint for near- and long-term DEIA efforts.

(5) Incorporating DEIA-specific questions into the agency’s Annual Employee Survey to acquire data in these areas.

Through the combined efforts of the DEIA Team and LOV workgroup, the Udall Foundation plans to develop and implement several DEIA practices. The greatest barriers to accelerating the advancement of these practices are personnel and resource constraints. The agency would benefit from increased staff capacity in the DEIA area who would focus on establishing agency-wide diversity and inclusion goals, strategies, and outcomes. The agency may consider leveraging outside resources through existing contracts and partnering with other Federal agencies. Such additional resources are necessary to maximize and expedite the impact of the agency’s DEIA initiatives.

Other possible, internal efforts are centered around leadership commitment, cultivating an inclusive workplace culture, and building and maintaining a diverse workforce. Examples of these include increasing professional development opportunities, incorporating diversity and inclusion awareness into the onboarding process for new hires, and providing DEIA-specific training to new supervisors. The DEIA Team and LOV workgroup will continue to analyze current agency policies and programs to identify other potential initiatives.

Agency DEIA Strategic Plan Governance Structure & Team: Description of leadership and teams advancing DEIA across the entire agency and within each component. This should include the governance structure being used to oversee DEIA progress of both the working teams and of leadership engagement. Explain how leadership of the agency will be actively engaged and supportive of DEIA efforts. In particular, describe how leadership will support internal quarterly goals and the process by which leadership will provide ongoing feedback. Agencies are encouraged to include information on the structure and management of their DEIA implementations teams and across components, as applicable.

Leadership involved to champion and advance DEIA (at the agency and component level)

The Udall Foundation’s DEIA Team includes three senior leaders: the Deputy Executive Director/General Counsel, Chief Financial Officer, and Director of Education Programs.

The Director of Education Programs will also assume the title of Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) effective July 1, 2022.

Cadence of leadership engagement

The DEIA Team will meet with the Foundation Leadership Team at least quarterly.

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Mechanism of quarterly review by agency head

The DEIA Team will provide quarterly progress reports to the Executive Director.

Plan for integration of DEIA into decision-making, governance, mission, and goals

The DEIA Team will identify and recommend opportunities to integrate DEIA into agency decision-making, governance, mission delivery, and strategic goals.

Team members and structure (at agency and component level)

• Senior-most lead for DEIA initiatives within the agency:

CDO

• Overall decision-making body for the agency:

Foundation Leadership Team

• Cross-agency team responsible for promoting DEIA and integrating other interagency initiatives within the agency:

DEIA Team

• Champions for fostering DEIA and identifying implementable actions within the agency:

LOV workgroup

Governance: How team will work together

The Udall Foundation will develop a comprehensive governance structure for DEIA initiatives after the Director of Education Programs assumes the title of Chief Diversity Officer on July 1, 2022.

DEIA Budget: Describe budget efforts that are supporting and advancing DEIA. Explain how the agency is directing resources to support the efforts described in this strategic plan. Include any requests for new resources included in the FY23 Budget, including staff, and any new requests anticipated for future years.

Salary Budget for the five personnel active on the DEIA Team = $46,705 Annually

Salary Budget for the 10 personnel active in the LOV workgroup = $87,215 Annually

LOV workgroup programming budget = $10,000 for FY 2022, with the potential for increase.

DEIA and Interagency Initiatives: Describe how the CDO and other executives responsible for DEIA will engage in and integrate with other interagency initiatives, such as the President’s Management Agenda, agency implementation of the Equity Executive Order, programmatic equity initiatives, etc.

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The DEIA Team will lead the agency coordination of interagency initiatives. The incoming CDO will serve as the primary interagency contact for engaging and integrating such initiatives.

Identification and Advancement of DEIA Priorities (DEIA Roadmap for Agency Action):

Diversity (Recommend priority(ies): DEIA Program(s) structure and management) Priority/Goal Strengthen agency DEIA approach and organizational structure.

Strategies Appoint senior leadership level CDO.

Actions Research critical elements for CDO position description and qualifications.

Operational activities to measure progress (quarterly measures)

Identification and onboarding of CDO by Q4 FY 2022.

Outcome measures (annual) to assess progress

Onboarded senior leadership level CDO by Q4 FY 2022.

Responsible individuals or teams

Executive Director

Dedicated Resources, such as funding

Up to 20% of a senior leadership level FTE.

Equity (Recommended priority(ies): Pay & Compensation, Recruiting, Hiring, Promotion, and Retention)

Priority/Goal Maintain pay and compensation equity.

Strategies Monitor timely completion of onboarding documents to ensure accurate pay and benefits for the new and transferring employees.

Actions Review HR actions and payroll reports for accuracy and timeliness.

Operational activities to measure progress (quarterly measures)

Complete analysis of HR Coding, Personal Action Requests (PAR), and payroll reports by Q3 FY 2022.

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Outcome measures (annual) to assess progress

Brief Executive Director on results of analysis by Q4 FY 2022.

Responsible individuals or teams

Chief Financial Officer and Senior Financial Manager

Dedicated Resources, such

Funding budgeted for GSA Payroll and HR Support and staff time.

Inclusion (Recommended priority(ies): Professional Development, DEIA Training, and Inclusive Workplace Culture) Priority/Goal Assess agency inclusion needs.

Strategies Research options for performing internal equity assessment.

Actions Complete research on options for performing internal equity assessment.

measure progress (quarterly measures)

Submit internal equity assessment recommendations to Foundation Leadership Team by Q3 FY 2022.

Outcome measures (annual) to assess progress

Foundation Leadership Team responds to internal equity assessment recommendations by Q4 FY 2022.

Responsible individuals or teams

DEIA Team, LOV workgroup, Foundation Leadership Team, and Contracting Officer.

Dedicated Resources, such

Available funding and staff time.

Accessibility (Recommended priority(ies): Reasonable Accommodation (disability & religion), Physical Accessibility, Culture of Accessibility, and Safe Workplaces and Sexual Harassment) Priority/Goal Consider accessibility in all aspects of the new building design for the agency’s Tucson, Arizona headquarters office.

Strategies Coordinate with the architect and builder to ensure accessibility.

Actions Review building plans and coordinate with architect and builder.

7 | P a g e measure progress (quarterly measures)

Meet with architect and builder weekly, or as often as required to ensure standards are met.

Outcome measures (annual) to assess progress

Building is expected to be complete in November 2022. Assessment will be made prior to that date to ensure standards are met.

Responsible individuals or teams

Space planning committee of the Executive Director, Director of the National Center, Deputy Director of Education, Chief Data and Information Officer, and Operations Coordinator.

Dedicated Resources, such

Funding committed to build-out of new space and staff time.